μέν

Forms

μέν (mén) (discourse particle)^[1]

Etymology

A shortened form of the confirming particle μήν (mḗn, “truly, certainly”) (Doric and Aeolic μάν (mán)).^[2][1][3] Beekes holds that the two can hardly be separated: μέν has the same function and a related meaning, and its vowel was shortened as the particle weakened in force, as δέ (dé) stands beside δή (dḗ); the short form spread to Attic and the other dialects from epic and Ionic.^[2] Pokorny traces that particle to the emphatic particle Proto-Indo-European *smā,^[4] and Beekes compares the particle Sanskrit स्म (sma) but finds the exact relation, and that with μά (má), unclear.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is one of the commonest words in Homer, from the opening of the Iliad on.^[5][6] There it is often a plain affirmation, “indeed, truly”, as in the oath formula ἦ μέν, where Attic says ἦ μήν.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

In Homer and Ionic the affirming force is still clear; in Attic it mostly prepares a contrast, so that μέν marks the first of two correlative words or clauses, usually answered by δέ (“on the one hand … on the other”).^[7][10][11] The answering clause can also be introduced by ἀλλά (allá), ἀτάρ (atár), μέντοι (méntoi) or a copulative particle, or only implied.^[7][12] Like δέ it never begins a clause.^[13][6]

The word declined in later Greek: the New Testament has it only about 180 times, frequent in Acts and Hebrews and missing from several books.^[6] Coptic borrowed it as ⲙⲉⲛ.^[14] Modern Greek keeps it only in learned phrases such as μεν … δε, “on the one hand … on the other”.^[15]

Timeline

• Homer – The Iliad and the Odyssey use it both as an affirming particle and in correlation with δέ.^[8][7]
• 5th–4th century BC – Classical Attic uses μέν … δέ constantly to balance words and clauses.^[7][10]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it far less often than classical prose.^[6]
• Modern Greek – Learned usage keeps the pair μεν … δε.^[15]

Meanings

Particle

1. (epic and Ionic) indeed, truly, the same as μήν; in oaths ἦ μέν “truly, verily”.^[7][10][8]
2. Used alone in questions that assume their answer: “I take it”.^[7]
3. With a following δέ, marking the first of two contrasted or listed words or clauses: “on the one hand … on the other”, “while”, often untranslated; ὁ μὲν … ὁ δέ “the one … the other”, οἱ μὲν … οἱ δέ “some … others”.^[7][10][13]
4. Answered by another particle instead of δέ: ἀλλά, ἀτάρ, μέντοι, or a copulative one.^[7][12]
5. With a contrast left to be understood: “for my part, at least”.^[7][16]
6. In combinations: μὲν οὖν “so then”, also correcting, “nay rather”; μέν γε “at any rate”; μὲν δή “certainly”, often in a conclusion.^[7][17]
7. Written as one word, μέντοι (méntoi): “yet, nevertheless”, and in strong assent “of course”.^[7]

Word family

• μέντοι (méntoi)

Related words

• μήν (mḗn)
• δέ (dé)
• δή (dḗ)

Usage notes

Its usual place is second in the clause, like δέ.^[7][13] It is often repeated, when a second contrast is nested in the first clause.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
5. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick W., et al. (2000), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cunliffe, Richard John (1924), A Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect, London: Blackie and Son
9. ^ Autenrieth, Georg (1891), A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, tr. Robert P. Keep, New York: Harper and Brothers
10. ^ a b c d Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
11. ^ Thayer, Joseph Henry (1889), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, New York: American Book Company
12. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1889), An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c Abbott-Smith, G. (1922), A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark
14. ^ Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
15. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
16. ^ Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
17. ^ Malhadas, Daisi; Dezotti, Maria Celeste C.; Neves, Maria Helena de Moura, eds. (2006–2010), Dicionário Grego-Português, São Paulo: Ateliê; digital ed. 3 (2022), UNESP Araraquara